Processing photographic materials

ABSTRACT

Photographic materials are treated with photographic processing solutions by passing the photographic material through a pair of slits disposed on the outer diameter of a conduit while passing the processing solution through the conduit.

United States Patent 1191 Ito et a1. Oct. 29, 1974 [54] PROCESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC I MATERIALS [56] References Cited [75] Inventors: Yoshiteru Ito; Minoru Sonoda, both v UNITED STATES PATENTS 0f Kanagawa, Japan 3,344,729 10/1967 Kitrosser 95/89 R 3,392,706 7/1968 Llo d 95/89 R X 1 Asslgneei J Photo l 3,392,707 7/1968 Mar x 95/89 R x Mmaml-Ashlgara-shl, Karlagawa, 3,575,101 4/1971 Smith et al 95/89 R x Japan 3,641,911 2/1972 Aelterman et a1. 95/89 R X [22] Filed: 1973 Primary ExaminerFred L. Braun [21], Appl. No.: 336,591 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Su hrue, Rothwell, Mion,

g Zinn & Macpeak [30] M FgrtleggrzApplicatlon Pnorlty Data 47 215 l [57] ABSTRACT apan 5 Photographic materials are treated with photographic processing solutions by passing the photographic ma- [52] terial through a pair of slits disposed on the outer di- [51] Int. Cl (i03c 5/00 qmeter of a conduit while passing the processing Solu' 58 Field of Search 95/89 R; 96/48 R, 50 R, hmugh the 12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENIEflnmze m4 v 3.844.786

DIRECTION OF FLOW 1 PROCESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to processing photo graphic materials and, in more detail, to the rapid processing of photographic materials.

2. Description of the Prior Art Photographic materials such as silver halide photographic films are treated with processing solutions such as a developer and a fixer etc., after exposure. Recently, photographic processes have, in general, been carried out by a roll conveying process. In one embodiment of such a process many pairs of rolls are disposed in a horizontal or perpendicular direction and a part or all of one roll of each pair is immersed in a treating solution and the photographic material is passed between the contacted rolls.

However, in such processes the time for obtaining the desired effect of the treatment(s) on the photographic materials is essentially fixed, and the processing time depends upon the time of contacting the photographic material with the processing solution and the state of stirring of the solution during contacting. If it is intended to carry out development in a short time by prior art roll conveying processes the photographic material must be carried between many rolls at a high speed, and consequently the photographic material is easily spoiled. On the other hand, if the photographic material is passed through a small bath by means of a small number of rolls, the ratio of unnecessary or unused solution to the volume in the small bath becomes more than that in a large bath and the area of contact of the processing solution with air increases while the area of contact of the photographic material with the processing solution decreases. Further, since the effect of stirring the solution by rolls is poor, uneveness of treatment easily results.

Thus, in the case of the rapid processing of photographic materials the prior art roll conveying processes have many faults.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention is to provide a process for treating photographic materials in a very short period of time.

The present inventors completed this invention as the result of many studies based on the fact that the processing time forphotographic materials depends upon the time of contact with the processing solution and the conditions of the contact, the object of the present invention being attained by passing a photographic material through slits in a conduit while running the processing solution through the conduit, the slits being disposed on the wall thereof so that the photographic material passes across the line of flow of the treating solutron.

Hitherto, it has been supposed that solution will flow out from the slits if a solution is passed through a conduit having slits. However, the present inventors have found the surprising fact that the solution does not flow out from the slits under a certain condition.

While it might be assumed that the diameter of the conduit, the flow rate of the solution and the length of the slits etc., would control the flow of the solution from the slits, to prevent the flow of the solution running in the conduit from the slits (shown in FIG. 1) it is sufficient to merely fix the width of the slits (interval) so as to be preferably less than 5mm, particularly less than 3mm.

The minimum slit width is decided by the thickness of photographic material to be processed. The thickness of photographic materials is generally at most about 300 microns before processing and is generally at most about 500 microns even if the photographic material is swollen by processing. Accordingly, for most materials the minimum value slit width will generally be about 0.5mm, preferably about lmm.

However, since the object of the process of the present invention is to carry out the treatment of photo-' graphic materials in a very short period of time, it is not always necessary to use slits which satisfy the abovementioned condition. For example, in the case where the flow rate of the solution flowing out around the paper is small, even if the width of the slits is beyond the above mentioned limits it is possible to carry out the treatment in a very short time, though a very slight loss of the solution will be encountered.

The material composing the conduit having a pair of slits is not limited. For example, metals, plastics, rubbers, wood, bamboo and the like can be used. Of course, the conduit should not have a harmful influence upon the photographic materials treated or the processing solutions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of treating apparatus for carrying out the process of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the treating portion of the processing apparatus for carrying out the process of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of a treating part for carrying out the process of the present invention showing the relationship between the processing apparatus and the stand (angle of incline).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION For most commercial operation, the diameter of the conduit (d) to the photographic material, usually paper, speed (v) is usually not more than about 5 seconds, that is, v d/S The length of the slits is decided by the width of the photographic material processed. It is usually not more than 40cm for commonly encountered photographic materials.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a treating portion 4 having guides l and slits 2, 2 on a part of the surface of the conduits is disposed so that the slits 2, 2 are horizontal. A processing solution is circulated through the conduit, though instead of circulating the processing solution it may be disposed of after one pass through the conduit. Two pairs of rolls 3, 3' which contact each other are disposed at both sides of the treating portion 4. A photographic material 5 is passed continuously through the rolls 3 the slit 2, the processing solution, the slit 2' and the rolls 3. in sequence. The rate of flow of the processing solution and the conveying speed of the photographic material can be freely varied if the essential condition heretofore recited is met.

Guides 1 and rolls 3, 3 are not always necessary and may be substituted for by other conveying devices because they are merely used for conveying the photographic material in a stable manner. If a plurality of rolls 3, 3' and treating portions 4 are employed, all steps in the treatment of a photographic material can be carried out continuously.

Guides 1 and the slits 2, 2' are provided on a part of the wall of the conduit in the running direction. Though the length of the slits can be varied, it should be nearly equal to the width of the photographic material to be treated to avoid any undue loss of treating solution. When there is danger of the processing solution flowing out from the slits, it is preferred to provide a flexible liquid receiver under the slits or to slightly incline the treating portion 4 and the conveying rolls 3, 3' or the whole of the treating apparatus towards the running direction of the processing solution, e.g., a slight incline of not more than about By such a slight inclination any solution flowing out can be protected. If the incline is larger than 5, the insertion of the photographic material into the slit becomes harder, so little is to be gained by using an incline greater than 5.

Such an embodiment is exemplified in H6. 3, where 3, 4 represents a roll/treating portion combination, S is a stand, P is a pump, RC is a recycle conduit and PC is a processing solution hold-tank. In this embodiment processing solution is constantly recycled.

As described above, according to the present invention it is possible to shorten the processing time by extremely shortening the time of contacting the photographic material with the processing solution. Further, stable treatment can be carried out in spite of the high speeds because the process of conveying is very simple. Of course, treatment for longer periods can be carried out by decreasing the speed of conveying.

The process of the present invention can be applied to any photographic materials which are subjected to wet treatment such as silver halide photographic materials, diazotype photographic materials and photographic materials using photopolymers.

The term" treatment or processing includes every wet processing such as development, stopping, fixing, bleaching, rinsing and combinations thereof and etching treatments involving photographic materials. The composition of the processing solution can be selected as desired in a manner known to those skilled in this field.

The process of the present invention has the following advantages in addition to the above mentioned effects.

1. Since a processing bath per se is not used, the treating apparatus is small and the quantity of processing solution is low.

2. A constant temperature processing solution can be maintained in a manner which substantially excludes air, and thus it is possible to prevent air oxidation of the processing solution, and consequently the processing solution does not rapidly deteriorate.

3. The operation is simple since the conveying device is simple, and, a reasonably cheap processing apparatus can be produced.

4. It is possible to treat different size photographic materials merely with a change of the size of slits in the treating portion.

5. It is possible to diminish uneveness of treatment.

In the following,'one example is shown which illustrates the present invention in more detail.

EXAMPLE Two stainless steel pipes each having a 15cm length and a 10mm inside diameter were selected. In one pipe a pair of slits were formed 1 mm in width and 40mm in length. In the other pipe the slits were 3mm in width and 40mm in length. The slits face each other in the diameter direction as shown in FIG. 1, that is, the slits were disposed apart around the circumference of the conduit so that the photographic material treated had the maximum straight-line pass through the conduit. Two treating systems were set up, one with the pipe with the 1mm slits and the other with the pipe with the 3mm slits. The treating systems were otherwise identical.

The pipes were fixed to incline about 5 to the horizontal direction so that the processing solution naturally flowed through the pipe. Both ends of the pipe communicated with a developer tank via polyvinyl chloride tubes. In this case, a polyvinyl chloride pipe linked to the end of the upper side of the pipe communicated with the developer tank through a pump (P). The basic assembly was as shown in FIG. 3.

Each slit was equipped with guide plates. A pair of rolls was provided near the guide plates, by which the photographic material was passed smoothly through the sequence slit-pipe-slit. The basic assembly is shown in H65. 1 and 2.

The developer tank was filled with an aqueous compound developer (Commercial name: Rendol, produced by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.)

The flow of the developer wasas follows: an exposed photographic film having a 32mm or 16mm width was passed through the assembly and the conditions where developer. did not flow out from the slits of the pipe were determined. These are shown in the following table.

From the above table, it can be seen that a'90O 3,200 ml/min developer flow rate is preferred when the width of the slits is l 3mm, the length of the slits is 40mm and the inclination of the pipe was 5. Development could be carried out in a very short period of time, i.e., photographic material feed rate of about 1.6 sec./m. 60 sec./m., by passing the exposed film by means of the drive rolls while setting the flow as described above.

From the above it is easily seen that slit width (interval) is the controlling factor and that processing solution flow rate and photographic material speed through the conduit can be varied greatly, keeping in mind sufficient chemicals must contact the photographic material to achieve the desired processing result.

It will further be clear that while it is most practical that the slits be exactly disposed on opposite sides of the conduit, some offset from exact opposition could occur, but little would be gained and the risks of erratic operation increased.

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is: l. A process for continuously treating photographic material in web form which comprises:

introducing a flowing bulk stream of processing solution into a horizontally disposed conduit having a diameter (d); i

flowing the bulk stream of processing solution through said conduit, which conduit is provided with a pair of substantially oppositely disposed slits in the walls thereof, without significant loss of processing solution;

passing the photographic material through one of said substantially oppositely disposed slits in the walls of the conduit which holds the processing solution as a flowing bulk stream; passing the photographic material at a speed of passage (v) through the conduit and thereby through the flowing bulk stream of processing solution in a direction transverse to the direction of flow of the processing solution in said conduit, the conduit diameter (d) to photographic material speed of passage through the conduit (v) satisfying the formula v d/S in seconds; and

removing the photographic material from the conduit via the other of said substantially oppositely disposed slits, said processing being such that the flowing processing solution is maintained under conditions which substantially exclude air, whereby air oxidation of the processing solution is prevented.

2. The process of claim 1 where the slits have a width, expressed perpendicular to the planar surface of the 6 photographic material being processed, of less than 5mm.

3. The process of claim 2 where the width is less than 3mm.

4. The process of claim 3 where the width is greater than 1.0mm.

5. The process of claim 2 where the width is greater than 0.5mm.

6. The process of claim 1 where the conduit is disposed at an incline less than 5 to the horizontal.

7. The process of claim 1 where the flow rate of treating solution is 900 3,200 ml/minute and the speed of the processing of the photographic material is 1.6 sec./m. to 60 sec./m.

8. The process of claim 1 further comprising removing the flowing bulk stream of processing solution from the immediate area of contact with said photographic material, whereby the photographic material is passed through the stream of processing solution for treatment without substantial loss of photographic processing solution from the substantially oppositely disposed slits in said horizontally disposed conduit.

9. The process of claim 8 which comprises continuously recycling the removed flowing bulk stream of processing solution and introducing the flowing bulk stream of processing solution into said horizontally disposed conduit.

l0. The process of claim 1 wherein both sides of said photographic material are simultaneously treated.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein said photographic material is selected from the group consisting of a silver halide photographic material, a diazo-type photographic material and a photographic material comprising a photopolymer.

12. The process of claim 1 wherein said processing solution is selected from the group consisting of a development, a stopping, a fixing, a bleaching, a rinsing or an etching solution. 

1. A PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY TRE TIN RIAL IN WEB FORM WHICH COMPRISES: INTRODUCING A FLOWING BULK STREAM OF PROCESSING SOLUTION INTO A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED CONDUIT HAVING A DIAMETER (D); FLOWING THE BULK STREAM OF PROCESSING SOLUTION THROUGH SAID CONDUIT, WHICH CONDUIT IS PROVIDED WITH A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSITELY DISPOSED SLITS IN THE WALLS THEREOF, WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF PROCESSING SOLUTION; PASSING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL THROUGH ONE OF SAID SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSITELY DISPOSED SLITS IN THE WALLS OF THE CONDUIT WHICH HOLDS THE PROCESSING SOLUTON AS A FLOWING BULK STREAM; PASSING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL AT SPEED OF PASSAGE (V) THROUGH THE CONDUIT AND THEREBY THROUGH THE FLOWING BULK STREAM OF PROCESSING SOLUTION IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE DIRECTION OF FLOW OF THE PROCESSING SOLUTION IN SAID CONDUIT, THE CONDUIT DIAMETER (D) TO PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL SPEED OF PASSAGE THROUGH THE CONDUIT (V) SATISFYING THE FORULA V $ D/5 IN SECONDS; AND REMOVING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL FROM THE CONDUIT VIA ID SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSITELY DISPOSED SLITS, SAID PROCESSING BEING SUCH THAT THE FLOWING PROCESSING SOLUTION IS MAINTAINED UNDER CONDITIONS WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY EXCLUDE AIR, WHEREBY AIR OXIDATION OF THE PROCESSIND SOLUTION IS PREVENTED.
 2. The process of claim 1 where the slits have a width, expressed perpendicular to the planar surface of the photographic material being processed, of less than 5mm.
 3. The process of claim 2 where the width is less than 3mm.
 4. The process of claim 3 where the width is greater than 1.0mm.
 5. The process of claim 2 where the width is greater than 0.5mm.
 6. The process of claim 1 where the conduit is disposed at an incline less than 5* to the horizontal.
 7. The process of claim 1 where the flow rate of treating solution is 900 - 3,200 ml/minute and the speed of the processing of the photographic material is 1.6 sec./m. to 60 sec./m.
 8. The process of claim 1 further comprising removing the flowing bulk stream of processing solution from the immediate area of contact with said photographic material, whereby the photographic material is passed through the stream of processing solution for treatment without substantial loss of photographic processing solution from the substantially oppositely disposed slits in said horizontally disposed conduit.
 9. The process of claim 8 which comprises continuously recycling the removed flowing bulk stream of processing solution and introducing the flowing bulk stream of processing solution into said horizontally disposed conduit.
 10. The process of claim 1 wherein both sides of said photographic material are simultaneously treated.
 11. The process of claim 1 wherein said photographic material is selected from the group consisting of a silver halide photographic material, a diazo-type photographic material and a photographic material comprising a photopolymer.
 12. The process of claim 1 wherein said processing solution is selected from the group consisting of a development, a stopping, a fixing, a bleaching, a rinsing or an etching solution. 